Retired Judge Patricia Wald, joined the president's intelligence commission after a legal career that included serving on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Wald, considered a liberal Democrat, served as assistant U.S. attorney general for legislative affairs during much of the Carter administration, until President Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 1979. She was the first woman to serve on the appeals court and was its Chief Judge from 1986 to 1991.

In 1999, she retired from the federal appeals court and spent two years in The Hague as a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. She has been a vocal supporter of the International Criminal Court and criticized the Bush administration's withdrawal from that body.

Wald also served as chairwoman of the Open Society Criminal Justice Initiative, a program sponsored by wealthy financier and philanthropist George Soros, and resigned from the board position in February 2004. Wald graduated from Connecticut College for Women in 1948 and Yale Law School in 1951. She has been honored with awards from many groups, including the International Human Rights Law Group, the Environmental Law Institute and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Presented by UDC-DCSL and the UDC-DCSL Women's Law Society. Lunch will be provided.